Friday, June 27, 2008

BERLIN, GERMANY - After two heady years of bubbling underground in the U.S., IAMX officially have released their two albums The Alternative (released in May) and their debut Kiss + Swallow (in-stores as of yesterday) via Metropolis Records. And what better way to kick off their official Stateside dominion but with a week of tour dates. Starting off on September 9th in Cambridge, MA's famed T.T. The Bear's Place and concluding on September 16th at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall, IAMX (fronted by the ultra-charismatic and beguiling Chris Corner of triphop pioneers Sneaker Pimps) will undoubtedly once again play to capacity crowds, much like their two previous sold out tours.

IAMX's single "Spit It Out" has made a big splash on radio with its debut as the #4 Most Added on CMJ and is steadily moving up CMJ's RPM Chart where it's currently perched at #20 (it debuted at #38 four weeks ago). Culled from their internationally-acclaimed second album The Alternative, "Spit It Out" also spawned a video that is making equally huge waves in the video world. Musically layered with electro, pop, and rock interwoven in a very melodically rhythmic fabric, the track has been a fan favorite since its initial release overseas. The electro remix of the single by Washington, DC collective Bitrayker was released exclusively to Napster and can be heard at www.myspace.com/bitraykermusic.

"A blitzkrieg of psycho-trash glamour, Berlin's IAMX are, with their outlandish fashion sense, a sort of Scissor Sisters of underground electro. With all the swagger of T. Rex, the drama of Marc Almond and the forebidding atmosphere of a bombed out city, this is sex music for a decidedly dystopian future." - CLEAR

"Just listening to The Alternative, you can't help but think of highbrow art; think Marlene Dietrich on Ecstacy out for a night of cabaret." - Venice

"Heavier, dirtier and more sinister than the Sneaker Pimps' listener-friendly sounds, The Alternative is almost industrial without the excessive noise. Taking the buzzes from that genre and mixing them with electro elements, orchestral washes and Corner's dangerous delivery makes for a tempting mix." - Remix

IAMX's visually arresting and dynamic live shows over the last two years have sold-out venues from Los Angeles to Denver to Chicago to NYC with numerous cities in between. Without a prior US release, the band's buzz built mostly through word of mouth, attracting the attention of magazines such as Alternative Press, CHORD, CLEAR, REMIX, and numerous other publications who had their ears to the underground. Fortunately for old fans and new fans alike, the American version of The Alternative is a different beast than the European version, since it has been remixed and, in some parts, re-recorded, upping the beats and adding a darker, more live, and primal feel. The new version of the debut Kiss + Swallow adds a remix of the title track by Moonbootica and the video for "Missile".

Like an 80s electro glam soundtrack to a Guillermo del Toro film or an almost unfathomable hybrid between the sexy swagger of David Bowie and the electro-dance excitement of Scissor Sisters, IAMX mixes the erotically-charged vocals of Chris Corner with music that is, at once, frantic yet intensely controlled. With such strikingly cinematic songs as the waltzy cabaret drama of "President" to the percussive sexual predatory dirtiness of "The Negative Sex" to the indelibly infectious synthpop of the sweeping "Spit It Out", The Alternative is just that - the alternative to the cookie-cutter music scene that dominates the airwaves. A visual and aural intersection, IAMX's live performances have sold out venues across Europe, the UK and the US, even landing on US music industry trade magazine Hits' best SxSW showcases in 2007! Voted Number One Album of 2007 by XM Radio, The Alternative is the sound of an independent revolution offering the perfect "alternative" to the insipid radio drone of the mainstream.

Both The Alternative and Kiss + Swallow are available now on Metropolis Records.